Jon Wilkins – Poppy Flowers At The Front

‘Poppy Flowers At The Front’ by Jon Wilkins is a historical fiction book set in World War One, 1917 to be exact.

Poppy Loveday is 17 and an ambulance driver stationed as close to the front as possible, for her to collect injured soldiers and take them to the hastily created ‘hospitals’ or the mortuary. She witnesses first-hand the horror of the war, from the screams of the soldiers right to the body parts that she sees. Poppy, while experiences the cruelty of the war, has an illicit, forbidden romance with Elodie Proux, a French nurse. The only place they can be accepted in those days was Paris, but this is the Front. They carry on giving the care they need to the soldiers and take comfort in each other whenever possible, so at least they have that amongst the horrific backdrop of war. A soldier is murdered and this brings danger ever closer to Poppy too.

A brutal, raw and touching story that highlights the sacrifices many people made during this time. The love Poppy and Elodie have for each other is all that keeps the brutality and destruction of the war from breaking them. I cannot begin to imagine the hardships and the emotions people went through but this book comes very close to almost being there and I had moments where I had to put the book down and bring myself back into the real world, that’s the power of Jon Wilkins prose.

I loved Poppy and Elodie and empathised with Poppy as she struggled with being unable to be truthful about their relationship. They have some adventures and get into some dramas along the way which are an added bonus to this addictive read. That part of the story really had me wanting to know how they would get through in these hard times.

Every teenager should be made to read a book like this! They may have an inkling how lucky they are that that generation sacrificed everything for their country.

Thanks to @damppebbles for having me and to @writerjwilkins for the copy of the book for #damppebblesblogtours today.